CHAPTER 19
K eeping her word to Edgar, Ava hurried out of the front door of the castle to go pick up Stormy.
But before rushing off to the bakery, she had run upstairs to change out of her red power suit into something more casual. Her goal was to try and blend in a little more and look less conspicuous, less like a princess.
The only problem was she didn’t own anything casual, so she’d had to borrow some things from her mother, who always had an outfit for any occasion.
As she jumped in a silver Range Rover, she hoped what she’d picked would work.
She was now wearing a pair of designer jeans, a red cashmere sweater, and a simple, classic, ivory wool peacoat.
She also had on her mother’s fur-lined winter boots that were the same ivory color as her coat, and had added a matching red knit scarf and hat to help hide her identity.
The giant sunglasses she’d worn before, she also brought along.
Lydia was waiting for her inside the Range Rover and did a double take when she saw Ava.
“Do I look okay? Will this disguise work?” Ava asked nervously. “I raided everything from my mother’s closet.”
“When was the last time you wore jeans and dressed like this?” Lydia asked.
“Uh…Never.”
“It will work,” Lydia said with conviction.
Ava felt more confident as she settled into her seat, and they drove off.
? ? ?
When they pulled up to the village bakery, the first thing Ava noticed was all the clever, culinary-themed Christmas decorations. The next thing she noticed was all the people coming and going from the bakery.
“I didn’t think there would be so many people here,” she said under her breath.
“Yes, I imagine everyone is picking up their pastry orders for Christmas,” Lydia said as she opened her door.
Ava nervously adjusted her sunglasses, hat, and scarf.
“Are you ready?” Lydia asked.
Ava braced herself. She was about to get out of the Rover when she got a FaceTime call from her mother. She panicked. “No, no, no…”
“What’s wrong?” Lydia asked.
Ava held up her phone. “It’s my mother. I can’t get this. She’ll see me dressed like this and will know something is up, but if I don’t answer again she’ll also know something is going on. I’ve been avoiding her calls.”
“It’s okay,” Lydia said. “Hand me your phone.”
When Ava did, Lydia hung up on her mother.
“What are you doing?!” Ava said, grabbing her phone back.
“Just take a breath and call her back without FaceTime so she can’t see you,” Lydia said. “Say you got disconnected or have a bad signal. Your mother does that to people all the time when she doesn’t feel like talking on camera.”
“Wait, she’s done that to me,” Ava said.
“See?” Lydia said with a smile. “You stay here and call her back, and I’ll go get Stormy.”
“How about I stay here and not call her back?” Ava tried.
“That’s not one of the options,” Lydia said with a smile. “Call her now. You know how much she hates to be kept waiting.”
“Yes, I know,” Ava said, but she still was worried.
“Keep the call short—say you’re right in the middle of something, but you’ll call her back in an hour once you’re back home.”
Ava smiled at Lydia. “You’re really good at this.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice, working for your mother.”
They shared a smile.
“Now, go, call her. I’ll be right back with Stormy.” Lydia shut the door before Ava could respond.
Ava looked around at the crowd of people around the bakery and slid down in her seat so no one could see her. She dialed her mother, making it a regular call without any video.
The queen picked up on the third ring. “There you are! I thought I was going to have to send out the Royal guard to find my missing daughter.”
Ava forced herself to laugh and to try and sound like she wasn’t freaking out. “I’m sorry. Edgar told me I needed to call you. It’s my fault. I’ve just been so busy trying to…get ready for the Christmas party and everything else.”
“I heard about the big scare,” her mother said.
“What?!” Ava exclaimed, almost dropping her phone. “Edgar told you?”
“About Midnight, yes,” her mother said. “I’m so glad he’s doing okay.”
Ava breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Yes, Midnight, he’s doing fine. Everything’s great. I’m getting everything done. Everything’s good. We’re just looking forward to…having you home.”
Her mother laughed. “I haven’t heard you sound this positive in a long time. Maybe I need to go away more often.”
“Yes, that’d be great,” Ava said, distracted. She was staring out the window waiting for Lydia and Stormy to come out of the bakery.
“What?” her mother asked sharply. “You want me to be gone more?”
Ava snapped back to attention. “What? No. I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Her mother laughed. “Nothing. You’re obviously very distracted. Is that why you haven’t called our press office yet?”
Ava frowned, trying to keep up. “About what?”
“Stormy,” her mother answered. “They told me they haven’t heard from you yet about how you want to introduce Stormy at the party, and you know time is running out…”
Oh crap , Ava thought to herself as she scrambled to find an answer.
“Ava? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here,” Ava said, trying to stay calm. “I’ll contact them today.”
“With your plan?”
“Yes,” Ava answered. “With my plan.”
“That you’ll run by me first,” her mother said sweetly, but Ava knew she wasn’t kidding.
“Yes, of course.”
“Good, because you know how important this is to me.”
“Yes, Mother. I know,” Ava said, rolling her eyes. “Right now, I’m right in the middle of something. Can I call you back in about an hour?”
“That would be wonderful,” her mother said. “I look forward to it and—”
Ava cut her off when she saw Lydia exit the bakery with a distressed look on her face. “Sorry, Mother, I have to go. I’ll call you later.” She hung up, got out of the Range Rover, and rushed over to Lydia.
“Lydia, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Lydia shook her head, distraught. “No, I’m not. Stormy got away again. I’m so sorry.”
Ava felt like she had been hit by a freight train. “What?! No…” She clutched her stomach, feeling like she was going to be sick. “What happened?”
“They think he ran out the back of the bakery when a delivery was made a few minutes ago,” Lydia said, upset.
“The delivery man had his hands full, so when Stormy ran out the door, he couldn’t catch him.
He also didn’t know Stormy would take off and run away again.
By the time he told the bakery owner what had happened, it was too late.
Stormy was gone.” Lydia’s voice cracked.
She was fighting back tears. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this happened again.”
Ava took Lydia’s hand. “Lydia, stop. None of this is your fault…” Her voice trailed off when she saw Justin’s SUV pull up to them.
Justin jumped out holding a dog leash. He gave Ava a surprised look. “Wow, you look so…normal.”
Ava wasn’t sure if she should take this as a compliment or an insult, but at this moment, she didn’t care.
“Where’s Stormy?” Justin asked as he looked around.
“He ran away again,” Ava answered, her voice simmering with frustration.
Justin laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
Ava shook her head. “No.”
“I wish we were,” Lydia said with a sigh. “The last time anyone saw him, he was running toward the park.”
Ava threw up her hands in frustration. “This is insane! All this dog does is run away. Of all the dogs, why in the world did my mother pick this one —” Ava stopped venting when she noticed people were starting to stare at Lydia and then they started to look at her.
“Oh no,” she said, panicking. To try and hide her face she rushed over to Justin and started nuzzling his neck.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Justin asked, surprised.
Ava whispered into his ear. “People are recognizing Lydia because she’s always with my mother.
If they recognize her, they could recognize me.
Just play along.” She hugged him, buried her face in his chest, and muttered, “Pretend we’re a couple.
They’d never expect me to be with someone like you. No offense.”
“Uh, some taken,” Justin replied with a laugh as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. “How’s this? Does this feel like a loving boyfriend?”
“It’s fine,” Ava said as she kept her face hidden.
Actually, if she was being honest with herself, it was more than fine .
Having Justin cuddle her close made her feel cherished and safe and all warm inside, despite the frigid winter weather.
When he asked if it felt like a loving boyfriend , she didn’t know. Henry had never held her like that.
When she looked up at him, their eyes met, and for a moment, everything else melted away like they were the only two people who mattered. Her pulse skipped a beat when she saw a flicker of something in his eyes that confused and excited her all at the same time.
“That was close,” Lydia said, jarring Ava back to reality. “Now that people have figured out I’m not with the queen, they’ve lost interest.”
Ava cautiously looked around and saw that Lydia was right. The crowd of curious people was gone. She slowly stepped away from Justin. “Okay, I think the coast is clear.”
“Are you sure?” Justin asked as he draped his arm around her and pulled her in closer. “I mean we can’t be too careful, right, Honey Bear?” He kissed Ava on her cheek.
Ava, startled by the kiss and her racing heart, pushed Justin away from her. “Stop that. You can’t kiss me.”
When Justin laughed, his eyes twinkled with mischief. He was clearly enjoying himself. “Why not?” he asked. “Is there some royal rule about that?”
Ava, all business, locked eyes with him. “Yes, as a matter of fact, there is.”
Justin laughed louder. He turned to Lydia. “She’s kidding, right?”
When Lydia shook her head, Justin’s smile faded. “Seriously?”
Ava crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Yes, seriously, so you need to…watch yourself.”
Justin’s eyebrows rose. “Me? I didn’t do anything. You’re the one that suddenly threw yourself at me, hanging all over me, acting all lovey-dovey—”
“Lovey-dovey?” Ava asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Okay, I guess it’s an American term. It means that you were flirting with me,” Justin said. “You told me to play along, so I did. So, if anyone broke any royal rules , it was you.”
Ava was shocked speechless.
Lydia put her hand over her mouth, hiding a smile.
When Ava saw Lydia watching them with curiosity, she knew she needed to put an end to whatever was going on between them, fast.
“Can you please stop joking around for once?” Ava asked, staring at Justin. “This is serious. We’re just wasting time. We need to go after the dog right now.”
“Another order?” Justin asked. “Who knew a princess could be so…bossy?”
Lydia playfully raised her hand then promptly put it down again when Ava gave her a look.
Ava lost it. She locked eyes with Justin. “You know what you are? You’re—”
“Charming, funny, smart…” Justin offered with a grin.
“Infuriating!”
Lydian winced. “Someone needs to get over to the park right away to find Stormy. Are you two going to be okay to work together?”
“What choice do I have?” Ava said, avoiding Justin’s stare. “I can’t go anywhere with you, Lydia. You attract too much attention.”
“And no one will pay any attention to me,” Justin jumped in. “Isn’t that what you said?”
Ava ignored the jab.
“We’ll be fine,” Justin told Lydia. “We can take my SUV. Don’t worry, I can handle this. I’ve handled some of the most difficult dogs in the world.”
“Are you calling me a… dog ?” Ava was so upset, she choked on her words.
Justin smiled his sexy smile. “I was talking about Stormy.”
“Were you?” Ava’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t buying it.
Lydia stepped forward. “Time out. Both of you. You need to go to the park and get Stormy, or Ava, you need to come home with me right now and call your mother.”
Ava pulled herself together. “We’re going right now. Right, Justin?”
Justin saluted her. “Yes, boss.”
Ava gritted her teeth but didn’t engage. She turned to Lydia. “What about Edgar? When he finds out we lost Stormy again, he’s going to call my mother—”
“It’s okay,” Lydia interrupted. “Leave Edgar to me.”
Ava gave Lydia a curious look.
“He thinks we’re picking up Stormy now. He can wait a little longer for an update. But you need to move fast. I can’t hold him off for long…”
Ava gave Lydia a quick, grateful hug. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Lydia said. “Go get Stormy, so we don’t have to worry about Edgar.”
“Let’s go, Honey Bear,” Justin said with a huge grin as he held the SUV door open for her.
Ava flashed him her own dazzling smile. “Call me that again, and I’ll throw you in the dungeon.”
Justin laughed, turning to Lydia. “She’s hilarious.”
Lydia didn’t blink. “She’s not joking.”
Justin’s grin vanished. Without another word, he got into his SUV and shut the door.